International lawyer Timothy Cooper, a long time D.C. statehood supporter, wrote that:

"The OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) has issued its preliminary 2016 U.S. Elections Report. A final, more comprehensive one will be published after January. The OSCE, Europe's largest human rights organization, has to date published six reports on U.S. elections. In each report the organization has noted that the U.S. Government's continuing policy of denying District of Columbia residents full voting representation in Congress violates the election standards of the organization. The United States is a founding member of the OSCE. As such, the U.S is politically obligated to fulfill all of its OSCE commitments.

In the 2016 preliminary report, the OSCE notes, 'Some 4 million residents of US overseas territories and 600,000 residents of the District of Columbia do not have voting representation in Congress. In addition, residents of US overseas territories do not have the right to vote in presidential elections. More than 6 million convicts, including those who have served their sentences as well as many still facing trial, are widely disenfranchised, although several states have recently taken steps to restore their voting rights. These restrictions contravene the principle of universal and equal suffrage, as provided in OSCE commitments.'"